Ideas on the best learner bike

[El Speedy]

Hi guys, I'm looking at getting a bike to learn on but I'm a noob with no idea where to start...

Can I get your thoughts on a:

GN250 (any year)
CBR250r (88 or 89)
VT250 Spada (88)
CB250 Nighthawk (98)

Can I have some sort of idea on running costs, fuel efficiency, ease of getting parts, mechanics etc.

I'm only a wee learner so an idea on which ever is best as far as handling and weight etc would be great.

Also, a couple of bikes I've got my eye on reckon they need the chain replaced before the next warrant. Any idea on how much that tends to cost?

Looking forward to some replies so I can blow my heard earned cash!!

[Bren]

Here are my thoughts....
GN 250 Robust user friendly but you will soon outgrow
CBR250R getting a tad old...probably thrashed somewhat, but new they were not a bad bike..
VT250 again getting a tad old
CB250 nice and simple bike....would be my pick of the four

It all depends what sort of money you want to throw about as to the bike you will get...I hate to say it but bang for buck the hyosung bikes would be the best

I just replaced a chain on my bike....a budget one cost me $130

[Subike]

dont go past the 225 yammy scorpio 3k - 4k. and only a couple of years old
cheap compared to others in its class low maintenace
lots of fun.can keep up on the open road
Lots of reviews on it in this forum if you look,
Lots of owners of bigger bigs like them
Leaves a GN250 in the dust

[neels]

If you can, ride them all and decide for yourself which one you're more comfortable on.

Buying newer is a good option if you don't want too much maintenance to do, but buying older will save you money up front and there are more likely to be cheap parts available.

Bikes with lots of plastic will cost you money or are likely to be written of by insurance companies if you drop them.

[DMNTD:Me]

How tall are you?
How heavy (roughly) are you?
What will you use the bike for primarily?
How you ridden any bikes (dirt included) before?

Once you answer those few things then you can get an educated answer

[jim.cox]

old trail bikes can be bought cheaply
good riding position
and they can handle the rough treatment a learners bike gets
plus they may lead you to places a GN wont go....

[CookMySock]

That is the age-old learner question, but its much more about the person, and much less about the bike.

Either you want a new bike or you want an older bike. Older bikes only have 2nd hand parts available for them, and good engines and tidy fairings are getting hard to find.

Newer bikes have new parts cheaply available, particularly the Hyosungs, which makes them cheap to crash and easy to repair.

After the logic is out of the way, the rest is personal preference, which seems to overrule other seemingly irrelevant things such has brand name, how long it lasts, how much fuel is uses, and all that other crap.


Steve

[Antonio]

I believe, the honda CB250 hornet is the best learners bike,
so balanced,
wide tyre,

and it is more upride than the rest. I had several bikes in 250 range, I believe Hornet was the best, it was so light as well.

[El Speedy]

Cheers for the replies guys,

I'm 175cm, 70 kilos, mainly want a bike to commute on but do want to get out and go for a few long rides, and no, never riden anything except for my 50cc scooter.

It's not the first time someone's mentioned hyosungs to me... but stuck in the back of my mind is some advice a guy recently gave me.. "friends don't let friends buy hyosungs". Any substance to this?

[CookMySock]

"friends don't let friends buy hyosungs". Any substance to this?

Yes, it's a widely used derogatory remark used to embarrass people who even talk about the bikes, let alone buy one.

As above, if such things are relevant to you then by all means do not test ride a hyosung.

Steve

[Jonno.]

Cheers for the replies guys,

I'm 175cm, 70 kilos, mainly want a bike to commute on but do want to get out and go for a few long rides, and no, never riden anything except for my 50cc scooter.

It's not the first time someone's mentioned hyosungs to me... but stuck in the back of my mind is some advice a guy recently gave me.. "friends don't let friends buy hyosungs". Any substance to this?

It reminds me of a conversation I overheard once

"Do any of your friends ride Hyosungs?"
Reply "hah, Hyosung rider, with friends?"

[El Speedy]

Haha interesting. Excuse my ignorance but why do hyosungs have such a bad rap? And mechanically how do they fare? Do they last or is it a constant battle?

[BiK3RChiK]

Dude.... Heaps of peeps on here have learnt to ride on a Hyosung (including me). I had a brand spanking new GT250R. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't learn on one of those. My 50kg 15 year old daughter has a Hyosung GT 250 Comet. If I had my time learning all over again, I'd pick up a second hand one (the GT250 Comet) and learn on that.

People just love to bash the new kid on the block. I'd take little notice of the knockers, and go and give one a test ride if I was you. The only thing to watch probably, is the older model ones, which did have some teething problems, but have mostly been sorted over time. Say from 2007/8 on you should be sweet. Make sure the services have been done and check whether the cam chain tensioners have been serviced or replaced, as they were an issue.

BTW, I now have a GT650 Comet and I'm not selling it any time soon... It's an awesome bike to ride and I get home with the hugest grin....

[DJSin]

dont go past the 225 yammy scorpio 3k - 4k. and only a couple of years old
cheap compared to others in its class low maintenace
lots of fun.can keep up on the open road
Lots of reviews on it in this forum if you look,
Lots of owners of bigger bigs like them
Leaves a GN250 in the dust

Another vote for the Scorpio

[mikemike104]

I'm a new too, and my 89 Ninja owes me $4200 after I bought it then had to fork out $1500 worth of repairs, but now its brand new (new parts everywhere plus recent reciepts from prev owner), goes well and seems fairly forgiving thus far.

I reakon its freckin awesome !